Breakfast Tacos

It took me until my recent trip to Texas to discover breakfast tacos. Where have they been hiding my whole life?!

I decided to recreate them here at home. The experiment turned out great and even saved precious morning time!

I made mine ahead of time and it yielded 6 tacos so plenty to have for breakfast or bring to work as a late morning snack. You can use whatever mix-in's you want, I stuck with bacon and cheddar.

Breakfast Tacos

6 eggs
2 tbsp water
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
6 soft tacos, small size

Cook bacon on the stovetop to crispy. Remove and place on a plate covered in paper towels to absorb grease.

Beat eggs in a bowl and add two tablespoons of water. Using the bacon pan, scramble eggs. Remove from pan, let cool in a bowl while chopping the bacon into bits. Place bacon in with eggs and mix to evenly distribute.

Cut 6 pieces of wax paper and lay each taco shell on each piece. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over shell then add about 3 tbsp of the eggs and bacon mixture. Fold the taco and wrap wax paper over each taco.

Refridgerate until ready to heat up in the microwave (I heated mine for about a minute and twenty seconds).

Enjoy!

Black Eyed Pea Coconut Soup

RUN to your kitchen to make this soup (well, after you buy the ingredients that is)... it's seriously that good.

I had first had this soup while on my spa vacation over the Christmas break and immediately ran to my room to jot down what was in the soup hoping to recreate it. Once I got home I did some research on black eyed pea soup variations and finally came across this recipe, which basically is 95% close to being what I enjoyed at the spa.

Made a batch of this tonight for dinner and will be enjoying it for lunch for the next two days. It has a bit of a kick to it, so next time I may decrease the pepper & curry, but other than that, totally a unique flavorful soup! Enjoy!

COCONUT BLACK EYED PEA SOUP

Source

Serves:  8-10

Ingredients:

·         3 tablespoons unsalted butter

·         ½ cup yellow onions, chopped

·         ½ cup green or red pepper, finely chopped

·         1 teaspoon curry powder

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon pepper

·         1 cup fresh tomato, chopped into small pieces (approximately ½ inch)

·         2 ½ cups black eyed peas (canned, drained or dried, soaked and cooked until tender before adding)

·         2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

·         A large pinch of sugar

·         3 cups water

·         ¾ cups rice, cooked

·         Optional garnish:  Grated coconut and julienned red pepper

1.       In a large stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat.

2.      Once melted add the onion, pepper, curry powder, salt and pepper.  Sautee for 2-3 minutes until well combined and vegetables begin to soften.

3.      Add chopped tomato.  Continue to sauté for two more minutes.

4.      Add black eyed peas, coconut milk, sugar and water.  Stir to combine and bring to a low simmer.  Simmer about 15 minutes.

5.      Add rice and taste for additional seasoning.  Note:  I usually add a bit more salt and pepper at this point.  

Texas Trip!

It was my first trip to Texas and I'll admit I went only because that's where the spa was ... but I'm glad I finally made it to the lonestar state, it was quite memorable. 

I specifically visited Austin. Here are some photos:

Austin Capitol - beautifully well maintained building. 

Stars are everywhere! This was a doorknob in the capitol building. 

No North, South, East, or West - - just Texas, all the way. 

6th St during the daytime - which is the dead time! Bustling at night though. 

I did a lot of research on Texas BBQ and the best places to eat it in Austin. I finally settled on Rudy's - it did not disappoint. I indulged in delicious brisket and baby back ribs, with a side of their cream corn and coleslaw. The cream corn was a bit heavy so I'd opt out of that next time. And just found out they ship some meats - very tempted to get some delivered to good ol' NY!

This was a poster on an abandoned building on 6th St. The chilly weather Austin was having during my visit didn't stop endless musicians from sitting on the streets strumming away on their guitar. I guess it really is the music capital of the world. 

The Laguna Gloria house that's part of the Austin Museum of Art is quite a beautiful house and landscape. Not much for exhibits, but I'm happy I made the detour there. 

South Congress was a really awesome street/area to visit. It reminded me of Brooklyn - always a good thing since that makes me feel like I'm home! Here are some photos from walking that street:

The iconic sign of the Austin Motel

Had to try on some cowgirl boots - these were the tamest I could find!

Cool spot

Fancy Boots

Never saw so many cowboy/girl boots!

Awesome mural of the Virgin Mary on the outside of Tesoro's

Now ... my trip to Texas for a reason aside from checking out Austin. Austin was basically the bonus, though I'm not sure anything quite can be a bonus to this spa. 

My trip was all to visit the Lake Austin Spa & Resort. It was the biggest indulgence to date and I already want to return but am trying to not book myself another trip just yet. But in one word, the trip was spectacular. And spa-tacular I suppose as well! It was nice to not have to rush back to reality after getting a spa treatment and to stay in that mode for 4 days. And 4 days worth of treatment didn't hurt either! The food was amazingly fresh and tasty, as well as healthy! I like those three combos. The activities were plentiful, but reading in a cozy chair all day was also on the agenda. It was hard to capture just how wonderful that place was, but here are a few photos: 

Being lazy by the lake

 A perfect picture window

Affirmation cards given after each treatment & at turn down

Daisy's are my favorite and these were in my room (with a spring of rosemary to add a nice touch (and scent) to the flowers!)

Texas treated me so well, so I shall return some day! Yee haw ya'll! 

Of course no trip is complete without some souvenirs. I picked up these two lovely items: 

Seemed only right to get a tshirt of the Lonestar State! This one came from Storyville in SoCo and was incredibly soft! Love lounging in it now post-trip!

Guitar String Bracelet by Robin and Leigh. Hey, Austin is all about music after all and what better way to remember that?